A Winter's Village

Hello friends...

Hope you all had a great week and ready for the weekend!

Today, I'm sharing a guided tour around my winter village make that I created for Tim Holtz's YouTube Live. I put my heart and soul into this make, and as I've mentioned before in a previous post, my Grandfather was actually a master builder and architect and everyone in our family has always said how alike we are and maybe I had inherited his skills and taken it into my crafting. So, if that is true and I have just a minute amount of his talent...then this one is dedicated to you Grandad, you will never be forgotten!

So, it's time for the tour and was all inspired by a village which is here in the Cotswolds, in the UK. I created three separate buildings, the manor house, the church and the small cottage that sits in the grounds.

This post is photo heavy but I did pack a lot of detail into it and I've tried to make sure that I've photographed every single one of those details to share with you ~ if you want to click on any photos, to make them larger to see more detail, just click away.

At the end of this post, I have listed all the main products I've used to create this, but of course any village make is in your imagination and I just hope this inspires you with a few of the techniques I've used!

Front of village

aerial shot of village front

aerial shot of village back

The base of this village is constructed from the largest size of Vignette Tray, which I covered with Crackled Paste and a large Etcetera Tag, cut into a ticket shape to match on both sides and covered with Tim Holtz papers. To create the icy effect, I added a generous amount of Glossy Accents to the surface and sprinkled Mica Flakes over the top. For any snowy effects I used either Grit Paste or the Snowfall Grit Paste from the Holiday Textures Set, listed below.

For the techniques that I've used to create the stucco effect on the walls is all detailed in a previous post, THE HAUNTED COTTAGE OF OSWALD T HALL but for this village, I wanted a softer colour palette and used Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Pumice Stone, and a touch of Walnut Stain Distress Paints. I also recommend you use Tim Holtz's Cardstock for the construction of your villages, from the houses, roof tops and window frames to the cobblestone driveways, my entire village was made from White Heavystock card, and I used Distress Paints, Distress Sprays, and Distress Inks to colour the card.

The Manor House

For the first stop, we visit the Manor House ~ this is two houses that I've stuck together to form one large house. I added two top sections to each of the houses.

For the pathway to the house, I used the Mini 3D Cobblestones Texture Fade to create the flooring and I actually used the waste from one of the Stampers Anonymous Etcetera Tomb Stones to create that sweeping step that sits in front of the house.

There is an Entry Way attached to each of the houses, which creates that beautiful double frontage and these are complete with little blue doors and tiny knobs that are Metallic Droplets! You'll also notice in the photo below, I added tiny little doormats in front of each door, which were small offcuts of burlap.

Above the doors are tiny wreaths, made from the circular die cut windows in the Village Collection Die Set and I covered them with moss, sprinkled them with Rock Candy Glitter and then added tiny red twine bows. There are also plenty of Woodland trees placed around the front of the house...all coloured with Distress Spray Stains in various shades of green and then given the icy look with Distress Rock Candy Dry Glitter and Mica Flakes and then combined with Floristry fibres.

...and the back!

The brown roof is embossed using the Mini Lumber 3D Texture Fade and I added Rock Candy Glitter over the top for the icy effect.

For the roof tiles, I used the Woodgrain Distress Card, again coloured with Distress Paints, using the dry brushing technique.

All the window frames are created using the dies, I then added acetate behind each window to give the illusion of glass, and frosted these with Rock Candy Dry Glitter for that cold, icy effect.

Now, to see around the back of the Manor House...

I added another door, and also an add on building.

There are tiny piles of logs, and also I added some stones, which are all covered in Mica Flakes and the Grit Paste Snowfall from the Holiday Texture Set.

You could add Tiny Lights to any of these buildings, the only reason I didn't was because it had to be flown across the pond, and from previous packages, I know that Customs are a little bit concerned when they see all those lights and wires!

THE CHURCH

We now visit the church and opening the doors for celebration...

The church stands next to the Manor House and above the red front doors, I added a small cross.

The spire has a small bell attached inside, and those frosty windows made from acetate and covered in Rock Candy Dry Glitter.

For the die cut roof tiles which I layered onto the roof of this building, I used Woodgrain Distress Card, inked with Distress Spray Stains and Oxide Spray Stains in various shades of brown.

The windows are all acetate but this time, I used Alcohol Inks to create the stained glass effect.

Once again, the church is surrounded by icy woodland trees, and I also placed a metal gate in front of the building.

On the back of the church I attached a Mini Flair Embellishment, complete with Clock Hands.

The church stands proudly next to the Manor House.

No. 25 THE COTTAGE

Now for the visit to the cottage...

The cottage sits to the left of the Manor House and is the same basic structure of the house but this time doesn't have the add-on on the top but it does have chimneys ~ two in total.

There is a little window complete with shutters on the side of the house...

...and at the back, there is a dormer window and another small pile of logs for that cozy fire inside.

Of course, no English village is complete without a postbox and for this I used a very tiny cotton reel, painted with Distress Paints and for the top, I added a Bauble Finding, and the crown from the Treasures Adornments Set.

The postbox stands at the front of the house, complete with a metal gate, and a tiny step up to the front door.

...and the house isn't complete without another woodland tree, that is placed between the manor and the cottage.

So that completes the guided tour around the village and I hope you've loved the visit and you're inspired by my make ~ it was so much fun to create and I've loved looking back over the details!

See you soon...love Emma xx

MAIN PRODUCTS USED:

Sizzix/Tim Holtz: Village Collection, Mini Lumber 3D Texture Fade, Mini Cobblestones 3D Texture Fade

Tim Holtz idea-ology: Woodland Tree Lot, Largest Sized Vignette Tray, Metallic Droplets, Mini Flair Embellishment, Clock Hands, Treasures Adornments, Baubles, Metal Gates, Hitch Fasteners

Mediums: Crackle Paste, Grit Paste, Mica Flakes, Holiday Texture Set, Rock Candy Glitter, Glossy Accents

Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock, Distress Woodgrain Card, Etcetera Tag

Red Tape

Distress Spray Stains

Distress Oxide Sprays

Distress Paints

Alcohol Inks

Logs, Moss, Floristry Fibers and pebbles from my own stash